Elizabeth Masen
by kkkkatie.xo
Summary: As Bella wanders the woods, she is attacked by a vampire named Elizabeth Masen, a non-vegetarian on her way to visit a clan of vampires she has heard includes Dr. Carlisle Cullen and Edward Cullen. What will happen to Bella? How is Elizabeth 'alive'
1. Bella: Walk in the Woods

Title: Elizabeth Masen

Summary: As Bella wonders the woods, she is attacked by a vampire named Elizabeth Masen, a non-vegetarian on her way to visit a clan of vampires she has heard includes one Dr. Carlise Cullen and Edward Cullen. What will happen to Bella? How is Elizabeth Masen 'alive'? How will the Cullen's and Edward react?

Author's note: First Twilight fanfic, set sort of during Eclipse, but don't try and focus on the time line. I've always been fascinated at the lack of people jumping on this plot... By the way: I am not American. So I hope I don't upset people too much with spelling – I've tried to remember how you folks spell things.

BPOV

It was a stupid idea to try and navigate to the Cullen's grand house at seven o'clock at night, as per Alice's request; I should have known straight off the bat I wouldn't have been able to find the sudden turn-off into their driveway amongst the ever-green shrubbery that made me detest Forks. I had only a small amount of fuel left in my gass-guzzling chevvy, I conceded, but figured I'd have just enough to make the trip from my house to Alice's for 'dinner.' Alice had told me during lunch as she played with her food she wanted me over to hang out to celebrate Charlie's parole grant of my house-arrest sentence. It was now ten minutes until seven, so it was unlikely Alice would have been looking into my future to see my tricky predicament as I was still in good time. Frustrated, I killed the ignition to my truck on the shoulder of an unfamiliar, narrow road, pocketed the keys, and collapsed back into my seat, whose cracked leather creaked in protest.

_Great._

I could either wait fifteen minutes on the side of a deserted road for Edward, my heart jumped just thinking it, to completely over-react at my lateness and demand Alice to foresee into my future and find me, which would be smart, safe, but incredibly boring. Since... last September, I'd somehow found myself without a car stereo, and I was fully confident that I was so dull for company I'd be in tears by the time a nervous, panicked Edward found me. Alice clearly never saw me getting lost as it would have been a last minute decision for me to make the sudden turn-off, and Alice couldn't see the future. However, I could always get out of the car and walk just a little ways towards where I thought their house would be. A house full of seven hungry, vegetarian vampires were sure to smell me, the only human blood for miles, especially by Edward or Jasper.

_That would be so much quicker. I'm already getting cabin fever, anyway._

Decided, I stepped out of my truck, not bothering to lock it. Noone would steal it, and one of my vampires was sure to find me soon enough anyway. I began to hike into the dense vegetation, making slow progress even for a human to take my excessive clumsiness into consideration. It wouldn't be good for them to smell me because I'd split my head open on a rock. It was especially cold there, the rain had cooled the rocks and made the air smell fresh and crisp, but at the same time it made me shiver as not only was I getting chilly in only my shirt and sweater, but I couldn't see at all, and resorted to feeling my way.

_Please smell me soon. Someone._

After about five minutes of walking/tripping I realized that this plan of mine failed to take several points into account. I would be found easily by my would-be-family. If, of course, noone was already out hunting and would make a meal of me. I had no trouble confidently leaving the cab of my car knowing there couldn't be anything out in the wilderness scarier than a Cullen, but what if that were enough? Secondly, I honestly was wondering if I was going into the right direction to reach their enhanced senses.

_Wait._

I began to feel colder. The same kind of feeling I got when I could feel Edward watching me. There was no sound, what with his graceful, silent foot-falls and ability to hold his breath, and the dark prevented me from seeing more than outlines of trees. I felt I had company, but at the same time I had never felt more alone. It could just be one of the wolves – _but the wolves could never have this stealth!_ My mind hissed, internally. I started to quicken my pace, but that just made my footing less secure, and I was slipping and sliding in the mud and moss, propelled forward only by the force of my acceleration. My heart began to quicken, though I heard no movements anywhere around me, and my body began to pump my veins with adrenaline, as though knowing something I didn't, _needing me _keep moving faster, just this once, even if I didn't understand. But as I moved I could here the tell-tale sound of whispy laughter echoing all around, almost like the frosty Forks breeze, but taking me back to the ballet studio, James' voice surrounding me from all corners.

_Definitely not a wolf!_

This is the one time it was okay to scream, to alert others of my presence. My heart suddenly ached to hear that velvety voice in my head, offering my guidance I desperately needed in soft, melodic tones, but it never came. _I should have waited in the truck! I should have been watching for the turn, I shouldn't have worried about the fuel – I should do something!!_

"EDWARD!" I screamed, propelling my body onwards, my brown, wavy hair whipping in my face as rain began to mist down. "SOMEONE, HELP!" I was suddenly overcome with a feeling of terror. Whoever – _whatever_ – had the desire to prey upon me obviously could have outrun me in an eighth of a second and still had time to torment me. My hunter was just toying with me. My weak body was spent from running and trying to stay upright, and instantly gave out as I begin to feel even more panicked, losing control of function. I felt my face slam against the earth and slide for a good six inches before stopping, my whole right side suffering the brunt of the impact, scratched and raw.

I froze. I lay perfectly still, crumpled on the ground, trying, pleading with it to let me melt through it as mists of rain grew thicker around me. Now I heard them. Footsteps. I knew their owner was intentionally being noisy to attract my attention and exacerbate my fear. It was working. My plan to stay as statuesque as my Adonis and personal miracle, Edward, was thwarted as I began to tremble. _Edward._ Where was he? What was he doing now? Possibly during my final moments? Would he be disappointed in me? That I couldn't fight? Or didn't stay where I ought? My breathing became ragged as the foot-falls ceased.

"Now, what could we be doing in the middle of the woods at this time of night, all alone?" A soft, high, and painfully enrapturing voice drawled. "You make it too easy. You make ones like me compelled, drawn to you. It's almost as though you want this..."

I didn't move.

"Where were you going, sweetheart? What were you doing out here? Is there noone who loves you near to protect you?" I couldn't tell if the hypnotizing voice was teasing me or genuinely curious. It seemed a bit of both. Maybe I should talk. It couldn't worsen the situation, I thought, as my breathing came in and out forcefully, unevenly. This was definitely a vampire, and any vampire new to Forks was sure to be around here because they either knew the Cullen's, or at least knew of them. Maybe the idea of seven vampires would be enough to scare this one. I tried to will myself into speaking, but couldn't find the breath to do it.

"Do tell me, dear. You truly are an enigma to me now, and I am in no hurry with this." She was right. I was alone in the woods with a non-vegetarian vampire. I was on _her _time. Slowly turning around, I was met with the most vivid, sinister red eyes I had ever seen. If I hadn't already heard her voice, I would have been sure it were Victoria, her pale alabaster skin, and dark purple rings under her eyes. Even her dark hair had elements of ginger to it. _No, not ginger,_ I thought,_ more like honey; more like bronze. _The female's soft, windswept waves of hair were styled in an up-do. I didn't know nomadic vampires could be so meticulous with their appearance, but my hunter's clothing was nothing but designer. Classic, but at the same time up-to-the-minute, and clearly European. She spoke in a superior tone, used to be respected, and her diction was clearer than Carlisle's. I was suddenly reminded of the beautiful, elegant ladies from _Pride and Prejudice,_ one of my favorites. Perhaps this female was from a clan. _Even more trouble for Edward's family. _I slightly shook my head to remind myself that my first priority right now should probably be me.

I finally found my voice.

"I was on my way to see the Cullen's. The _vampire clan_," I emphasised slowly, "who have this territory. I am very close with them and they wished to see me this evening. They're probably looking for me right now..." I tried to sound confident, but my voice broke at the very end. The breath-takingly beautiful woman before creased her brow in thought, peering into my eyes in deep concentration.

"I don't... believe you," the female said slowly, as if convincing herself, "although you know their secret... our secret... they can't hold you in that much regard. They left you here alone. You're only a human. Perhaps they enjoy your company as a novelty. Before they devour you." Her eyes grew black. Wide. Hungry. _Beg, _I thought to myself, as Edward instructed me all those months ago at Laurent's mercy.

"They will be livid with you. There's seven of them, they're each very powerful will be furious if you hurt me. I mean it." My voice began to quiver and ascend in pitch as the female leaned her elegant neck towards mine. "I'm very close with them! You don't understand! Please! We should go and see them now, they will tell you, you can't do this please, they will destroy you; tear you to ribbons and burn the pieces, please, just let us talk with them, WAIT!" I stopped talking for a moment as my fast babbling was becoming incoherent and my hunter's lips were pulling into a smile.

"I think I might be rather familiar with them too, though, darling," my killer cooed gently, softly. "I can not be sure but I believe I might know some of them, too. From a lifetime ago, of course," at this she smiled, and I let out an inhuman sob. "I am unlike them, though. They shall understand my difference in dietary preference. You are only a mere human, anyway. It will be as though you never existed." With those final words so close to Edward's declaration to me so many months before, I began to cry fresh salty tears streaking my cheeks and sobs racking my whole body, making it even harder to breathe. _This is it, _I thought.

"Please," I managed in the softest of tones, although I knew her vampire hearing could detect, "they know me so well, we are so close and they will never forgive you, no matter your connection," I spat. My tormentor seemed unconvinced.

"Well, my dear, you did answer my questions. Do tell me your name, so I may tell them when I go to see them." The female seemed the epitome of eloquence and etiquette.

I took in one final, shaky breath, and moved my lips to form my last words as she moved hers to my neck. I decided that I would tell her what I wanted my name to be, instead. I may not be married to Edward yet, and although I rued the grand wedding that was being planned, I still wanted to say this out loud. My mind was moving slower now. As though it knew it would soon be over.

I almost smiled as I felt her sharp, razor like teeth pierce my delicate flesh as I said,

"My name is Mrs. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

Please Review! This is my first twilight fanfic and my first attempt at writing in a loong time.


	2. Alice: Need for Knowledge

Chapter Two

Author's Note: I tried to keep Alice in character – equal parts determined, scrupulous, but at the same time a total ditz. Any critique welcome.

Warnings: A bit of swearing. Just one word repeated, though.

APOV

I drummed my perfectly manicured fingers on the love seat in the living room I shared with Jazzy, who was sending me copious, excessive amounts of calm through his empathic gift. One reason we belong together number 65743: only he can calm my jitters and hyperactivity. And only he can tolerate it! I started giggling to myself, Jazzy nodding and smiling on my right, familiar after so many decades by my side of his wife bursting into hysteria.

_I can't help it!! Bella was supposed to be here 12 minutes ago! This is beyond tolerable!!_

It didn't take a clairvoyant to know silly Bella would struggle finding the turn off into our driveway in her dilapidated truck, but I wouldn't have been able to see if she would make the turn or not. It would either be a last second decision, or she would make the sudden decision to turn back. Either way: no premeditated planning.

_Urgh! Humans!_

Edward would have driven her, _would have desperately desired to spend the 6 minutes alone to sniff her scent in an enclosed space, anyway, _but took a rain check, saying he would be busy. Bella didn't care; She preferred her driving to his, I think. I don't get how she can stand to sit still for twenty minutes when we could do the drive in six! I started bouncing lightly up and down on the soft lounge cushions, my Jasper putting his head in his hand and taking unnecessary deep breaths.

_Weirdo._

Edward, in truth, needed to hunt. He didn't want to tell Bella 'cause he had only been a week ago, and didn't want her to worry about his strange, unsated appetite. It didn't matter though; Bella's scent would be weak in her truck. Eddie had gone with Rosalie and Emmet, leaving just Jazzy, Carlisle, Esme, and ME! I started giggling again. I need to focus. Our kind are easily distracted. And by our kind I mean Alice's. If Edward were here he would be _freaking. Out._ He was a little prone to overreaction where Bella was concerned. Maybe Bella was taking her sweet time, but she wouldn't waste precious time with Edward, who was due home any second. I needed to start finding something to do to maintain the illusion of trying to help! She wouldn't be in too much trouble. Flat tire or something. I mean what could be out there that's dangerous?

_Correction. What could be out there that is dangerous AND Bella hasn't already made friends with/has the capability of befriending._

Given Bella track record, if the Devil himself turned up for Bella, they'd end up laughing about it over tea and crumpets. Silly human. I was calmer, now. Jazzy was working his trippy magic. I felt _real_ relaxed.

Three minute span...

"Oh my Jasper, where's BELLA!?" I growled in a high pitch, startling Jasper out of his reverie. "It's been fifteen minutes! Three minutes is bad in Bella time! Now we have to do something! I keep trying to find her but all I see are fast shapes. Nothing solid. Every thing's changing so fast, and her future shouldn't be changing so fast and dramatically just over finding a turnoff!" Jasper looked helpless and uneasy. As a (gorgeous) military man he was always thinking of worse-case scenarios in his mind, most of which involved an angry emo Edward, if not a hurt, injured human.

Jasper opened his mouth to propose plans for recovery missions when he was interrupted by a banging on the front door. It wasn't Bella. Bella's weak even for a human, and something smelled off. By off I mean we could smell one of us. The door continued to tremble slightly as our guest continued sporadically knocking on our door. I made to stand, but Jasper held out an arm to bar the movement, standing himself and walking straight and tall to the door, leaning forward in a predatory posture. I felt more than heard Esme and Carlisle move to the top of the stairs from Carlisle's office to see this unexpected guest for himself. I stood and walked closer. The knocking had ceased. The large house was silent, even quieter than before. Only the rain which was coming down hard now could be heard outside. With creatures with hearing as sensitive as ours it was eerie. I saw Carlisle share a look with Jasper from the top of the stairs as he stood slightly in front of Esme, who looked baffled, and Jasper slowly nod his head, reaching for the brass door handle. He grasped it firmly, and then in a movement too slow for human eyes wrenched it open ninety degrees to reveal our visitor.

Ghastly, sinister crimson eyes. Bright. Long, soft curls in an up-style untouched by the rain. But this was of no consequence to me. What I saw was her outfit. I knew that suit: black and white plaid skirt suit. Adorable and professional. Italian and worth tens of thousands. Straight off the runway. _Bitch._

I didn't look at her shoes. I didn't need to see any more. This female was formidable. A woman with an eye was a woman to watch. I jumped suddenly as I noticed for the first time the bundle she held in her arms –

_it was... -_

"Bella!" Esme breathed softly from the second floor. Cradled in the style-savvy red head's arms was my human best friend, paler than normal, almost grey-faced. I noticed bite marks on her neck, but no blood. This normally would mean only one thing, but I could definitely hear Bella's soft heart beat, slowed in unconsciousness.

_She's alive._

There was no doubt this vampire did not conform to our way of life, given her red eyes and their bright intensity. We clearly owed this woman our gratitude for resisting: a hard feat for one familiar with human blood. We were all stunned out of our assessments as the woman's smooth, confidant voice sang,

"Well, hello to you all. I hope you don't mind my visit, may I allow myself in?" This was a voice used to being obeyed. But the politeness and and high society of her tone was enough for my Jasper to open the door wider, almost subconsciously in his stupor, to admit the beauty. She had reddish-brown hair, and angular features, and looked to be in her late thirty's. She had cosmetics applied to her already flawless skin; red lipstick which one could have easily mistaken as blood, and then more simple, classical highlights. Her nails were as immaculate as Rosalie's, and she was dripping with jewellery.

_More european._

My eyes narrowed. Very formidable. She caught my stare and met it with arrogance and confidance, and I was enraged as I was forced to look away first by Jazzy, who gently took my arm and led me back to the couch. _She _followed. She carefully lay Bella down on the lounge, as though she were glass.

_Not far off._

And Carlisle and Esme, who the woman had not fully seen yet, slowly descended the stairs behind her. She turned to take them in.

"Elizabeth." Carlisle stated in a heavy voice. "It can't be you. Is it?" My adoptive father's brow was creased as he peered at her, _Elizabeth_, I corrected myself, with sadness, confusion, guilt and shock.

"Carlisle." 'Elizabeth's voice was different. It shook with respect, appreciation and relief. "I was hoping what they said was true. That Carlisle Cullen led a clan here in Forks. Leading a lifestyle so different from ours. And that you had others amongst you..." Her voice trailed off uncertainly.

For a long moment the only sounds to be heard were once again the rain outside and Bella's soft breathing. Esme's eyes were on Bella, assessing her health, ever the mother, whereas my Jasper's were on Elizabeth, assessing the threat. Carlisle spoke,

"I thank you for returning our Bella to us. She means a lot to us. More than we could communicate. We thank you, dearly; we understand how hard it would have been for you to stop, especially at the point at which you did," Carlisle added uncomfortably, noting the clean wounds on Bella's soft throat. Even I was admiring that. It took great strength for a vampire to resist when after giving over their senses. And I could only imagine the physical pain that would come from stopping after already tasting human blood, even a drop.

"I did not believe I could stop. I have never smelled a human so..." Elizabeth trailed off, frowning to herself. I couldn't stand this! Carlisle _clearly_ knew this woman, she knew him, there was a whole big secret thing that I didn't know about and I wanted to know!!

Jasper groaned, feeling my impatience, and shared another look with Carlisle.

"Well Elizabeth, my dear, perhaps you should tell us all what happened. With Bella. And then I would like to hear how you came to be... as you are. What you have been doing." Carlisle suggested, sounding just about as curious and incredulous as I.

"It has been a long time." Elizabeth offered. "I have come here from quite a way away. In the east. Still here in the United States, that is," she smiled. "I had heard stories of you, Carlisle. You, the company you keep, your family, I mean," she amended. "I'm sure you understand what I mean." I was on my way and was hunting regularly when I found your darling little human, here," she surveyed my now sleeping best friend with longing eyes. "She smells... delectable. I could hardly have stopped if I so wished. So small and fragile, pale, weak, even for a human!" Elizabeth now looked at Bella in astonishment and admonishment. "She is so painfully uncoordinated and delicate. All alone in the woods in the dead of night! I could hardly believe it!" She crossed her legs gracefully in a human gesture. "I begged to hear her weak little voice, and baited her to talk. The pretty little thing told me she knew you; I was shocked she not only knew your secret but also seemed familiar with you. I was still going to taste her. There were so many explanations for this, and she smelled phenomenal. Then she started to beg, and cry," Elizabeth moaned now in pleasure and I began to growl. Stupid stylish wench! "Finally I asked for her name. I love knowing their names. What she said shocked me." She now turned to Carlisle with calculating and determined eyes. "She said her name was Mrs. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

Carlisle let out a human breath of relief.

"Smart girl, good girl," Esme praised Bella as she slept, running her cold fingers through Bella's hair.

"Well I am certainly more than glad that she said that and you relented," Carlisle exhaled, smiling victoriously as Esme began to sit Bella across her lap.

"That didn't make me stop," Elizabeth cooed nonchalantly. Carlisle looked at her in confusion. _Bitch._

"The-... Wha-"

"-my ring." She interjected.

"I'm sorry?" Carlisle choked, needing elaboration as much as I did.

"Well, fine, _her_ ring, I suppose." Elizabeth seemed to have mixed feelings towards this. When everyone in the room except she and I looked baffled, I took it upon myself to enter into the conversation.

"Her _engagement ring!!_" I hissed, hoping to speed up the dishing of answers. Am I the only one in this house familiar with jewellery? Doesn't everyone know Bella only ever wears one ring: Edward's ring.

_No. Wait. It's not his. It's..._

"My ring!" Elizabeth agreed with me, nodding and smiling in appreciation. My eyes widened. For the first time I fully took in her physical appearance, and not her chic attire. Reddish-brown hair; _bronze. _Upper class, stylish woman, dripping with jewels, confidence and nonchalance? Minus the jewels, it sounded familiar, and things were starting to become equal parts clearer and murkier.

"Alice," Carlisle began nervously, "well, everyone. Meet Elizabeth Masen."

_Woah. Stylish bitch? No way. SHOPPING PARTNER!_

Please review!


	3. Carlisle: Ruminations and Reminiscing

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: Forgot to do one of these! Oh well, pretty sure you get that Twilight's not mine yet.

Author's Note: A present for you all at the end! POV requests welcome! Will probably stick with Bella for the story, but our protagonista is sort of too unconscious to tell this part of the tale.

Please Review!!

CPOV

I had no idea how this could be possible. I was Elizabeth's doctor during the Spanish influenza breakout decades earlier. I didn't personally tend to her during her final moments, I was alone for the torturous hours I'd have to spend away from the hospital, away from those who needed me and my gifts to maintain the facade of humanity. It was necessary for me to leave my patients for at least six hours every evening lest someone notice my lack of resting. So many doctors were getting next to no sleep during that time, but similarly so many other were going home so tired and fatigued that it was best to just calm myself and think in my small Chicago house until I could return. It pained me so as I knew how much damage just six hours away could do, how much could change in that time. But this was something completely other.

In the frantic atmosphere shared by so many hospitals in 1918 I remembered how easy it was to lose track of documents and progress of patients and not tend to the needy in time.

Everyone was still looking to Elizabeth in awe and shock; my Esme appeared to have adopted a permanent look of glee and excitement across her features, now getting to meet the biological mother of the son they now shared. Alice had a glassy look in her eyes staring off into the distance, clearly having one of her vision, however Jasper still looked suspicious and on alert.

"Hey guys – don't get up – be down in a bit-lat-um-I gotta-just be-bye!" Emmett's booming voice stuttered even fast for our super-human tongues as the door burst open for the second time tonight. Emmett zipped upstairs after toeing his muddy boots off with a look of excitement, concentration and need clear on his face, a defeated looking Rosalie in his wake. Being a doctor and a father for many decades meant I was, unfortunately, only too aware why Emmett was in such a hurry, and Jasper's dark only confirmed my fears.

_Not tonight!!_

I honestly don't have regrets changing any of my family, even Rose, but sometimes having a houseful of teenagers was just too much, especially when there was a dangerous and important visitor sitting in the love seat next to Edward's unconscious human girlfriend.

_Calm._

_Breathe out. _

_It is not because he's a teenager. It is because he is Emmett Cullen._

Thankfully Rosalie, at least, noticed the drama taking place and headed towards the staircase barking-

"EMMETT! NOT NOW!"

"He can hear perfectly well without you yelling Rosalie Hale!" My darling wife shouted back hotly. She immediately regained composure after she noticed the look of disdain Mrs. Masen was directing at her. Rosalie sat with Alice, a look of true confusion and fear on her face. She knew this woman was no match for four or now six vampires, so for us to be so tense and cautious around her something must be the problem. Her worry appeared to increase as Emmett descended the stairs to sit on couch nearby, frowning at the woman.

"Emmett, Rosalie, I was just introducing Elizabeth Masen." Emmett guffawed and looked towards the Elizabeth with suspicion, whilst Rosalie's eyes darted to the floor.

_Not the floor. Elizabeth's shoes. Always with the shoes._

_No--_

_...Calm._

"As in Edward's-" I immediately interrupted Emmett.

"Mrs. Mase- Elizabeth," I corrected myself, "might I introduce my children, Jasper and Alice," my 'middle son' nodded with a stern face as Alice looked undecided, "Rosalie and Emmett," Rosalie smiled coolly now, "and my lovely wife Esme." I indicated to each. I smiled as I came to Esme. She is always so supportive and always so protective of our family. She was so heat-broken last September when our 'coven' was divided and torn in two. Esme knew leaving would never solve anything. I'd have to ask her her thoughts on this, she had that maternal instinct Rosalie seemed to covet, and knew what was best for the family. Her golden eyes looked at mine warmly and my smile grew wider. So caring, my Esme.

"It is ever so nice to meet you," Esme gushed, still cautious, but eager to meet the natural family of her favourite.

"And the same," Elizabeth said in her high soprano tone without moving in as my Esme had welcomingly done. I was unsure how I felt about her calculating tone and her narrowed eyes that held a smile that didn't meet her lips.

_Strange._

Vampire memories never fade, and I had a perfect recollection of Elizabeth. She was such a dear, so much like Esme, yet a little more reserved and introverted as Edward is. She was quick and sharp and always made me laugh the brief times I saw her around town. That was before the epidemic. She grew a little harder after her charming husband died, who I never personally met. She was still the same, yet more reserved. Even in sickness she was still charming and astute, always the perfect lady and the epitome of upper-class. Then her only son fell ill. And I got to meet my first companion, confidante, and son.

I'd never tell the others, and I feared Esme held the same bias, but Edward would always be what I'd call my 'favourite.' There were just things I would tell him I could not tell the others. Emmett would not take things seriously, Jasper would see things too clinically, but the truth is I always saw Edward as who my own son would have been. Edward and I have always held the same interests: medicine, science, history, he even enjoyed ballroom dancing as Esme and I did. As I'd introduce him to something I enjoyed, he would either take to it immediately or would modestly divulge his previous experience. I never knew Elizabeth this well, though.

_I hope she's the same. The change, her husband's death and possibly the fear of Edward's fate might have hardened her. She does not share our eating habits. I can't tell if she is being so critical and calculating because this is her usual process as I remember, or something more sinister._

I was so used to thinking my thoughts in clear strings with arguments, justifications, opinions and juxtapositions because of Edward. I always sought to make my thoughts clear and decisive for his sake; he admitted to me once that it sometimes hurt him to attempt to decipher thoughts that were jumbled and incomplete, so I always tried to lessen his burden.

"Where is he?" I heard Jasper hiss to Emmett as Elizabeth held dear Esme's unsure gaze.

"He's still hunting," Emmett breathed back, "Rosalie and I just had to... leave early." He finished lamely._ No need to attempt subtlety, now._

"He'll be back soon." Alice sang softly. "He's still hunting but he's confused. He can't hear us, but he can tell something off. He thinks we might have a visitor but he's too far to be sure. He is undecided whether to return."

I nodded in thanks and turned to our confused guest, "The final member of our little family." I offered with what I hope was a calming smile. I'm quite sure Jasper then took my lead in that department.

"Elizabeth," I paused. I didn't know how to avoid bluntness. "What..." I emitted an unnecessary sigh, as Esme pulled Bella more securely in her lap."What happened?"

The bronze-haired beauty took a moment to take in Isabella's tiny, fragile form, now nestled comfortably in my wife's cold arms, occasionally sighing or cooing but I was now confidant she was fine and well. _Edward, however, will take a lot of convincing._

"I was very sick. The hospital was very crowded and cluttered," my old patient began purring, never taking her blood red eyes off our Isabella. "I was on a stretcher. It was dirty." I laughed internally. "It was night time, and I was barely conscious. The only reason I tried to stay awake was I remembered expressly and explicitly telling you my son and I were not to be separated." Her eyes flashed and her nostrils flared. Rosalie had left the front door open and the smell of the rain and greenery had filled the room. Esme pulled an afghan off the top of the couch and wrapped it around Bella as she began to shiver and make small, soft sounds. Esme hated the look of throw rugs being around the house as it contrasted and ruined the style she was aiming for, but insisted on it as a necessity in case her new daughter give even the slightest shake.

"Then it was dark. Darker than before. It smelled horrible. Everything smelled horrible and suddenly I was in a quiet room. Two men had taken me there and there was another man there waiting. He was so handsome. But his eyes were so strange. They looked off to me, even in the dark." Elizabeth set her jaw and continued with a hard look upon her face. "I knew I was barely alive, but I needed to get back to my son. It gave me strength. I sat up as best I could. There were other people on benches all around me. They were all so still, Carlisle," she seemed to almost entreat to me. "So still and so pale. All in the same gown as I. The men were afraid of the man who was already down there. 'Another!' They shouted before running back from where they came. The man looked at me. He smiled. Then there was pain. And a stinging burn as I'd never known. Like an ember at my throat, like acid I were forced to take, but it was spreading!" She appeared to relax, then, and I nodded approvingly to Jasper. "Then there were footsteps. And yelling. So much yelling. And then I was locked in a room with others. Still others. And then the pain finally stopped, and the first thing I did after I was sated was check the records of my son. He died." She looked meaningfully at me. "I spent years wondering the world. My boys were gone. For whom should I have stayed? I traveled to Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Milan-"

"Fashion week, after fashion week, after fashion week..." Alice sighed with a different type of glassy eyes, a longing expression on her face. Mrs. Masen grinned devilishly.

"I know, right?" Breathed older immortal with nonchalance. "But then when in Rome," at this both Alice and Rosalie giggled conspiratorially, "I was called to visit the Volturi. They have always held an... interest for me and my gifts." Another flash in her eyes. "And whilst there I heard talk and gossip of all the latest happenings. And then I heard of the vegetarian clan in Denali. Who were friends with Aro's good friend, Carlisle Cullen. And then I heard of _his_ clan." She turned to me. "Oh, Carlisle, please, you _can't_ keep it from me any longer! You _must_ tell me if it's true! You know of what I ask!" Suddenly my old Elizabeth appeared on the surface.

"Five." Alice whispered to the floor.

"Elizabeth, perhaps if I just take a closer look at our Isabella, here first and the-"

"Carlisle you must tell me! I've waited ninety years!"

"Four."

"But maybe if we just have you hunt first, you must understand our little human's life is so delicate and precious..."

"I fed on plenty before her!"

"Three."

"What? I-But we would all just feel more comfortable if Bella's open wounds were tended to, the smell -"

"I'm sure we're all plenty distracted from it right now!"

"Two."

"Alice, would you please be quiet if you don't think you can look after Bella!"

"All I need is a yes or no!!"

"One."

"ALI-."

Silence.

Save the growl rumbling for the chest of my wild and uncontrolled son at the sight of small Bella with horrid-looking neck wounds and still looking a little pale in Esme's arms. Even I could smell the sweet, smooth scent of her blood calling to me; Jasper looked to be struggling immensely to abstain and focus on the intruder, and I couldn't image what Edward must have been feeling. His arms shook and his eyes were wide as he snapped his teeth at Bella's broken and helpless figure, curled in a ball being comforted by Esme as she slept. I feared his insurmountable thirst for the blood of la sua canante was responsible for his rage, but the look in his eyes revealed the pain and anguish at seeing his mate so fragile, broken and hurt.

_Calm. _I thought to him.

_Steady breaths. I have checked her. She is fine. She is only sleeping now, and your mother is taking good care of her._

I blanched at my final words as I followed Edward's gaze to Elizabeth. _Your mother is taking good care of her._ I shivered a second time. This was what I had feared. Edward never needed explanations. A picture said a thousand words. And now he was being thrown all images of the past two hours back at him. He keened in his throat and screwed up his face in pain as he turned to a guilty and apologetic Alice.

"Sorry." She mouthed to me.

Alice had seen Bella's grand entrance. Edward must clearly now know who this woman was. What happened to her. Where she had been, why she was here. What she had nearly done. And probably, I grimaced, did not regret.

"Edward!" Elizabeth cried in joy and exultation, her eyes lighting up and her kind and caring countenance returning.

"Mother." He spat.


	4. Edward: Terror

Chapter Four

Authors Note: Sorry for the long wait! I'm so grateful to all of you who9 have kept checking and not given up on this story. There is a lot more to reveal. I should now be updating more regularly.

Finally some Edward! You may notice Edward is written differently to others – he does not have thoughts italicised as he hears thoughts himself, so that would be a bit confusing. Please Review!

Disclaimer: Don't own.

EPOV

I stood in the room feeling as though my chest was collapsing and, though oxygen was unnecessary to me, like I was suffocating.

Her Blood.

The blood of my cantante.

My Bella.

Hurt.

I took another shuddering breath that did nothing to appease the crushing sensation that my body had adopted. All I could see was my Bella in my big sisters thoughts, gushing blood. It pained me to see her precious blood which caused such an insatiable inferno in the back of my throat to breathe, and the monster in me to near paralyze my body in it's need. Our bodies craved the smooth, thick, and rich elixir and caused us to revert to our baser instincts, to push our muscles and stretch our limits to immobilise our prey. This was rarely necessary, however. Our phenomenal speed and devastating strength were more than enough.

However before the blood that sang to me, that _pained_ me to smell, that I could taste on my tongue now, from mere air particles that were contaminated by the crimson fluid my love held, I found I could barely move. The thirst and need were exponentially greater, however the intensity and weight of the feelings it brought rendered me near-drugged. Such copious amounts of that which I desired second most in this world freely spilling, discarded. Wasted.

What pained me more than this, though, more than the pain, the intense burning in my throat, the fury at such a precious substance being wasted squandered, was that it was _my Bella._ My sweet princess was severely injured, was hurt, wounded, unconscious, _had been attacked: nearly died_, nearly ripped from my side. Her bright existence, like a supernova in my dim universe was nearly snuffed out inconsequentially while I was miles and miles away.

She was helpless. So fragile.

_I'm so sorry Edward that wasn't the full story! You only s-_

… _has been assessed for most pressing medical matters and f-_

_Calm, calm, Edward you need to calm down and control your emotions now with Bella injured and-_

_It's cool, little bro, she's totally fine, Carlisle's checked her a bit and then he'll-_

… _he's panicking, he's panicking, Edward, if you can hear me, it's alright, dear, don't pan-_

_Oh nice. Real nice. Why can't he be as decent as his mother. Maybe style and cool skip a-_

Once I finally could control the thirst and better manage the pain, the sudden onslaught of thoughts made me grimace and almost feel the beginning of a headache. So many frantic thoughts, so fast – too fast, and it was Rosalie's last comment that snapped me out of my stupor.

"Mother," I spat.

I stared directly at Elizabeth Masen, who I had not seen in since 1918 during the Spanish Influenza Epidemic. I was so confused. As a vampire I could process thoughts at a shockingly fast pace, but bombshell after bombshell was not something with which I was familiar.

I hadn't seen my mother in decades, had retained few of my human memories and even fewer of my time after I fell ill with the incurable disease. But I remembered I loved her. I remembered she was precious to me. My best friend. A lonely only child of a wealthy couple in Chicago, I could not recall a single school mate I had become notably close to. However I remembered her.

Recalling human memories to a vampire was like a human trying to grasp soap. Slippery and unsure, I could only remember scenes. Events. Some that had clear purpose and significance, whereas others seemed mundane and trivial to me, and I couldn't understand their importance that they should transfer into my current memories. Mother encouraging me to play the piano. Playing a duet with me, and saying it was the key to any young ladies heart. Watching her needlessly aid the cooks in preparing dinner, watching her read, her telling me absolutely everything, and my eagerness to share everything with her. Her unconditional acceptance of me, her pride, and her devotion. Her terror at my insistence to fight in the 'war to end all wars.' Ballroom dancing, being fitted for dinner suits, parties, her rejecting any young woman to show interest in me before they could even speak to me, solely because I shouldn't settle for anyone less than a princess. My father falling ill and her caring for him. Her falling ill. My falling ill. My mother caring for me right up until Carlisle came to me for the last time to tell me he could make everything better. I remembered my lovely, beautiful, charming and eloquent, and adored mother who I loved more than anything.

And I remembered her in the vivid and nauseating scene I picked up from Alice. My beautiful mother, her soft brown hair as impeccable as ever, her clothes just as stylish if not updated, holding my beloved in her arms. Irresistible blood was now dribbling in streams down her soft, translucent throat that hadn't been in Alice's memories. The same blood on my mother's lips. The two women I loved with every cell in my body in the most terrifying and gruesome picture imaginable.

I started keening uncontrollably as my mother before me stepped closer.

"Edward, sweetheart!! Oh, my sweet, handsome, charming boy!" With vampire speed she threw herself at me and swept me up in her now hard and cold embrace. She pressed me to her in relief, and desperation, placing her head on my shoulder and circling her alabaster arms around me tighter.

I did not move.

Slowly, my mother lifted her head to gaze at me with piercing and beautiful, yet confused crimson eyes.

"Edward?" She asked softly, uncharacteristically unsure of herself. With a strangled cry, and without a single gaze to her, or any other member of my family, I raced to my Bella's side where she lay on the couch, her head still cradled in Esme's lap, discarding my mother.

"Unconscious, unconscious, is she comatose?" I babbled aloud, brushing Bella's hair away from her face with a shaking hand as Esme looked on, a sad but reassuring look on her face and tone in her thoughts.

"She's simply fainted. From exhaustion or shock, or simply the smell of her own blood," Carlisle explained wryly, suddenly in clinical mode.

"Why does she not have a compress?? She needs a compress for her neck! Get a compress!" I said in a high, frantic pitch that surprise even me.

"She was not bleeding when she.. arrived. The bleeding must have not been stopped but simply cleaned up before she arrived."

"Infection! She could have infection! Carlisle we need to disinfect this, she could get bacterial infection from these wounds, she could have septicemia – the open wound has been exposed for too long, it has probably been penetrated by microbes and now she could have sepsis! The wound is filthy – blood poisoning is probably one of many infections she now has – are you sure she's unconscious? Her heart rate is too _slow, _Carlisle!" I was sobbing now, frantically caressing her warm cheek with one hand and rubbing the other along the length of her arm.

"She feels too warm, Carlisle, she's feverish, my _God_ if she has a fever her immune system is too shot from the septic infection to handle a fever, Carlisle, she might need dialysis to clean her blood of infection before her blood boils from the fever. _Where is that compress!?_" I felt a cool, familiar hand on my shoulder, gently but firmly pulling me away. I struggled. I had left the love of my life alone, helpless in the woods to fend for herself because I couldn't go 15 minutes without hunting. I could have called her to come over earlier before I'd left. I could have made sure she was physically safe and in the care my family who could take care of her before leaving instead of leaving her completely _defenseless!_ I felt panic spread through my system faster than adrenaline through a human, remembering my terror at discovering the situation with which I had left Bella last summer. Alone. With wolves, Laurent and Victoria to handle. I was truly a monster.

I felt the hand on my shoulder more insistently, now, only changing it's course to turn me around, not remove me from the side of my beloved angel. I snatched Bella's warm hand and turned to growl fiercely at who so ever sought to separate me from my sweet girl, only to meet Carlisle's authoritative and penetrating stare. He put both hands on either of my shoulders to gain my full attention, as I felt Esme start tending to my Bella's injury.

"Edward, _stop._ Stop _right now._ I know you are worried, we all are, but as far as I can see as a medical professional Bella's life is not hanging in the balance. This is one of her worse injuries, but I can promise you that she does not have life-threatening sepsis. She could possibly have a mild infection, and a mild fever. Definitely some serious discomfort and will need bed rest for the next few days, medication and close observation in the days there after, but she does not need any medical care, tests or procedures that cannot be done by myself here at home. You're frantic and in shock and not thinking straight. Let me care for Bella. She's going to be okay." With that I broke down, falling into Carlisle's arms as we both knelt on the plush carpet at Esme's feet. I was taking hacking breaths into my dead lungs unnecessarily, however I still felt as though I were chocking. This was as close as our kind could get to crying, I imagined. Carlisle held me as I fell to pieces, my back to Esme as she tended Bella, gently cleaning the wound as Bella made soft cat-like noises in her unconscious state with utmost care, before positioning bandaging at the site and applying appropriate pressure. I couldn't think straight. In my head I was running all of the most horrible medical maladies with which my very heart could be afflicted. A small part of my brain was whispering to me their impossibility, unlikelihood and downright ludicrous nature, yet still I could not cease the images my mind conjured of Bella convulsing in agony, or worse, still as her pulse grew slower.

Alice understood. She was always the one I felt the closest to of my siblings. I truly felt as though she were my biological sister, although our bond could be justified by our gifts. Either way, it was my big sister who finally began to calm me. I saw images of Bella. Not overly energetic and unbelievable images – images of her weak and tired, but smiling and happy as we watched Emmet and Jasper play Xbox together. Of her still bandaged immobile from blood loss, but contentedly curled up in Esme's lap as my family played football together. Not far fetched snapshots to placate me, but honest and realistic visions to reassure me. I finally took a deep breath without shuddering. I looked up.

Jasper had his head in his hands, doubled over on his seat beside Alice. He was spent. Alice also had two fingers positioned at her temple, and was smiling at me in relief. Rose and Emmet just looked shocked. No-one seemed to be forming structural thoughts, but were thinking with images and colour and impressions. Carlisle looked relieved as well, and began to smile as well. I was not quite there yet. I turned to me beautiful fiancée, still being tended to by Esme. I reached out a hand to help, but it still shook too much to be of assistance. Esme ran one hand through my hair absently without looking up from her work. My Bella would need stitches, later.

I turned to face the only still individual in the room. My darling mother. I made eye contact with her as she hastily moved to wipe the blood of her lips, daintily, with an intricate gossamer handkerchief she had conjured. Her eyes oozed fear. Worry. Love.

No regret.

She raised a hand to her heart as she stood hunched over in grief. Grieving my suffering. Not her actions. I wanted to run to her and hold her and assuage her fears and never let go. But I could see in my adoptive mother's thoughts my darling sweet Bella's pale face and gory wounds and remained motionless.

"Edward?" My mother whispered, her hand over her mouth muffling the sound.

"Talk."

__________________________________

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	5. Bella: Awake

Chapter Five

Authors Note: Am on a break! So hopefully more updates more often

Disclaimer: Don't own.

BPOV

Everything hurt. Everything was heavy. My face, hell, my whole side was stinging and sizzling and I wanted someone to get some water and throw it on me. I felt a cold hand running slow repetitive motions through my hair. It gave me something to focus on, but I didn't understand where I was, what was happening. I felt so drowsy that I must have been in a deep sleep for hours, days, but I still felt so fatigued. The ache all along my left side burned. Not like in the ballet studio, but an incessant, unyielding burn. And then I felt my neck.

_My neck!_

I started to hear tiny little sounds in my semi-conscious state. A small cat crying? I was struggling through the fog, I needed to stop my side, my face, my _neck_ from hurting so. Suddenly another set of hands were touching me, more frantic and less soothing. Down my good side and up my arm. The bad side of my face, the one that burned was being soothed and numbed, I realized, by a hard, concrete lap. I realised that the soft mewling sounds were coming from my cracked lips when the frantic fingers found my stinging cheek, illiciting a soft, high cry from the back of my throat.

_Stop! Please!_

"Carlisle!" I heard a beautiful broken sob penetrate my awareness as I slowly gained more consciousness, could start to see through the fog. It hurt to hear such a sweet voice filled with such misery. I almost forgot my own pain, as its importance paled before someone of such importance being so hopeless, so hurt.

"Oh, Lord," A devostated sigh from another musical voice. This one carried more bass.

"Her face, her _face!" _The voice was sounding less and less human. The velvet timbre was morphing into a wounded animal's cry. I started trembling violently in pain as I felt myself being shifted from my bad side and onto my back to expose my wounds, and I wanted to scream at whoever was moving me to please, please stop now.

More sobs now. From the beautiful voice, and moans and sighs from around me. I didn't want to open my eyes. I wanted to go back to sleep! Please! It hurt too much to be this aware. I didn't remember getting this way and I didn't want to for now. I just wanted respite. This felt so close to the fire of my hand in Arizona, but I knew this wasn't the change. I was nearly ready to open my eyes when a cacophony of voices assaulted my ears, confusing me further.

"Jasper hold him back! If you can't control him restrain him-"  
"He's trying Carlisle! The blood is jus-"

"Emmett, then, grab him!"

"Carlisle that needs to be looked at right now! We need to wash that – it's obviously inf-"

"Rosalie, if you dare say infection in front of him you will regret it once this is over!"

The whole time this was exchanged a high, keening cry was issued and not from my lips this time. I was gasping and crying quietly, but the angel's voice was upsetting me. Why was everybody yelling and fighting and not helping the sweet voice?

"She's going to open her eyes in six seconds. Edward if you want Emmett to let you go to her I suggest you get it together." I knew that voice. Alice! It was Alice! And the beautiful voice -

_Edward!_

I began crying even harder now. _Edward_ was the angel in so much pain! I needed to help him, soothe him – my very chest hurt from no physical injury knowing he was hurting.

"Don't you dare let him go for a second in this state, Emmett, she can't predict his actions." A firm voice. Carlisle. I took a deep breath to give me strength to open my eyes and face this. This pain, this burning -

_Edward's pain. Edward first._

My lungs filled with the scent of lillies and laundry powder Renee used to use on our yoga gear. Esme. Her familiar scent, her cool hand still brushing through my hair comforted me, and I slowly opened my eyes.

_Pain. _

I started crying harder.

"Get him out of here!" I heard from Rosalie somewhere out of my line of sight. Edward's whole face was distorted in pain and terror, his brow furrowed and wrinkled, his eyes dark and crystalline, his mouth drawn tight over his teeth as sat at his knees before me, two arms around his heaving chest restraining him as he shook violently and cried. I started crying when he raised his gaze to mine. It made my chest hurt. I couldn't get enough air.

This last comment, though made him almost wild in his desperation. He started trying to get to me, fighting and twisting and contorting in Emmett's holds before he slumped in his arms and let Emmett support his weight, as my Edward stared at me and trembled.

I was going to be sick. I couldn't have said anything even if my lips remembered how to move. Carlisle suddenly appeared – reappeared? - and had a washcloth in hand, and basin of strange looking water, bandages, compresses, and extra washcloths. He also had needle and thread.

My body lurched forth as my stomach contents made contact with another basin that was suddenly under my chin. I tried to thank Alice with my eyes.

Another wave of crying sounds.

"Get it together, dude." Emmett groaned in frustration and anxiety.

Suddenly one of the washcloths was on my face. The bad side. I started howling. It hurt so much! It was stinging and burning and -

Her. I remembered her. Out of my peripheral vision walked the intruding vampire. Every memory of the past evening hit me with staggering force. I had to tell them!

"Carlisle!" I tried to scream, but it was delivered as a hiss. "It's her! She did this - she tried to kill me! You have to stop her, she _knows _you, I told her I knew you – she knows you, too! She didn't even care! She nearly killed me anyway!" Nearly every face in the room adopted a cringe or grimace. My Edward looked as though he would be sick if he could, and slumped lower in Emmett's hold, his eyes now unfocused. I felt a pinch in my arm, followed by another. I saw Carlisle replace two syringes back into his briefcase. Needles. I held my breath until the nausea subsided.

The nomad vampire looked at me coolly, contemptuously, but sent dozens of fearful and heartbroken looks towards Edward. I was worried about him, too.

Carlisle continued to wash my face and down my neck with the horrible, funny smelling cloth as Esme maintained her soothing rhythm along my scalp. I felt so weak. So fragile. It was taking so much energy to stay awake, but one look at my true love's face and I knew I couldn't rest.

It was me. I was hurt, and he was in pain because that hurt him. He seemed nearly mad from the agony. His eyes were vacant, and though the volume of his cries has decreased, their frequency had not. I reached across, slowly, a shaky and weak arm towards him. He was but two feet from me, but it suddenly felt as though oceans divided us. I had extended my arm maybe one foot from my side before it hurt. My bad arm. But I held it out for him, needed him to take it, needed for him to touch me, I _needed _the connection. I watched my arm shake. It was dirty and filthy. I remembered falling to the soggy, muddy earth and sliding along the unforgiving roots and rocks with it. I then understood the pain in my face and side. Remembering and seeing my arm, which I think was at an odd angle, and covered in what I hoped was just blood from my neck, I shook all the more, but Edward was staring into space. Emmett saw my movement and knew what I wanted. He shook my Edward until his eyes settled on me.

He was devastated. I thought of him under the clock tower in Italy and knew I couldn't keep my arm up much longer. That moment Edward saw and let a small, contrived smile grace his perfect lips. _He _was trying to make _me _feel better. I missed the movement with my human vision, but I felt his cool, familiar hand entirely encase mine. I'm not sure if I have small hands for a girl, or if he just has large hands. But at some primal level it made me feel safe. Protected. Even with my would-be-killer watching me carefully through narrowed eyes.

"He's okay," a pained voice, Jaspers wheezed. My blood! If it was making me feel sick then he must be in agony! I was causing everyone pain tonight, it seemed. I turned my head slightly to see his face buried in Alice's shoulder, her arms around him. That threw me. Jasper always seemed so strong, so powerful and controlled in most ways. I felt terrible. Emmett slowly released my fiancée, and he rigidly and awkwardly moved closer to me. It made me so anxious seeing everyone this way. Carlisle yelling, Emmett angry, Jasper afraid and my own Edward didn't have an ounce of grace or rationality left in him. He knelt over me, and a small, genuine, though distorted smile adorned his face. With the hand not enveloping mine, he reached out and started slowly and gently stroking the good side of my face, like a little boy stroking a kitten for the first time. I had never seen him like this. Esme moved me with such grace that I didn't feel any discomfort, moving my upper body up so she could begin to remove herself from under me. Edward's eyes were still locked on mine as she waited expectantly for him to take her place. He didn't move.

"Edward!"

Suddenly, as though he'd been slapped, he looked at Esme and nodded frantically before replacing me in his lap. His movements were stiff, jarred and exacerbated my injuries. I didn't make a sound of complaint.

_He can't even focus on their thoughts._

He smiled down at me with a funny look on his face that made me feel sick. He was totally out of it. He resumed Esme's petting of my hair, but it felt like just that. More of the fascinated little boy stroking a new pet. I wondered when or how he'd snap out of this. I cringed again as Carlisle stopped mopping me up, and began stitching me up. I kept my eyes on Edward's. His eyes were still intense. Filled with pain and love. He leaned down two inches before jerking to an abrupt stop. The corner of his mouth twitched minutely and he gazed at Alice.

"It's okay, Edward," She said softly. His mouth twitched into a crooked grin, but not the one I loved. He started to lean back down again, slower this time. I closed my eyes as I inhaled his sweet, chilly breath, and felt his cool, loving lips kiss my eyelid. Then the right of my temple. My chin. The side of my nose, my ear, my cheek, the corner of my mouth. All soft and lingering. All on my good side. I squeezed my eyes as I realised his hesitation must come from being so close to his singer's blood. My poor Edward. He needed control, needed stability and routine, and he needed his mate to be safe, healthy and unharmed. I couldn't even give him that. This was my fault.

"'m soorrr..." My mouth felt like it was full of marshmallows. Carlisle gave a sympathetic smile.

"That's me."

He explained at the same time Edward cried, "No!!" I felt even more guilty. His crying and sobs had just subsided and I had to upset him further.

"Shh, shh, shhh..." Edward shushed me, trying to calm me down when he was clearly more distraught than I was, though I didn't realise that I had still been shaking until his hushes calmed me down. He started whispering sweet nothings in my ear, literally, in tones below my hearing threshold, desperate yet still soothing. I saw Carlisle start to smile genuinely at whatever Edward was whispering in my ear, and Esme looked almost uncomfortable. The look anyone in the family gets when observing Alice and Jasper's private exchanges. As though whatever he was saying was far too intimate to be heard. It made me feel warm and lightheaded. Carlisle finished up tended to me as Edward's soft words became more breathy. He was trying to dazzle me. I, for once, was grateful. His whispers slowly became more rhythmic, more melodic, and easier for me to detect. I couldn't tell if he was whispering to me still or singing, but I felt his lips meet mine for the first time that night, finally, as I felt another pinch in my shoulder. I began to feel warm and safe, finally calm as I let unconsciousness reclaim me.

***

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	6. Bella: Morning

Chapter Six

Authors Note: Just so you know I am writing this now immediately after finishing the last chapter. I'll just sit on the next one too, unless you all review!

I just finished writing. This is nearly DOUBLE the size of any of my last few chapters. Maybe double reviews for such a big and speedy update?

Disclaimer: Don't own.

BPOV

I felt tired. I felt déjà vu. I felt tired of déjà vu. I was someplace incredibly soft, and I felt both parts warm and yet also quite cool. It was an amazingly soothing feeling. Like being in air conditioning on a hot day or waking up in winter with twelve sheets and flannel pajamas on. I sighed in contentment. I felt a dull pain in my body, not so much a pain: more an ache. But I felt so heavy and groggy that I could ignore it. I started humming in contentment, my head definitely buried in a fluffy, soft pillow. Or six. Definitely not at Charlie's. I began moving my feet around under the covers to feel the cold and warm areas around me as I felt two solid and familiar arms wrap themselves tighter around me.

_Hmm. _

The arms that always held me when I woke up in the mornings were never this tight. It wasn't painful, and it was entirely welcome, but it baffled me. I puffed out a breath of air as the events of tonight – last night? - came back to me. With it came greater consciousness, and greater awareness of my pain. Then I remembered Edwards pain. I could feel his slow, even breathing behind me, feel his chest expand and shrink pressed flush against my back as he was. I shifted my head slowly and found one of his hands close enough for me to kiss. I lingered as he had last night, and he hummed in appreciation, moving his arms up and down my arm, and in wide circles on my stomach. He sucked in a greater volume of air, bent his knees, and moved mine up with his, until we were entirely flush against each other on our sides. I think Renee called this spooning once when we were watching one of her trashy soaps together, but this seemed entirely innocent. We both needed as much connection and contact as possible. He shuddered almost imperceptibly, and began nuzzling my hair at my neck. He seemed so utterly, completely content.

"Hello, you," he whispered into my hair. "You know it's really rather impressive to give a vampire a heart attack the way you did last night. But you were always full of surprises." He seemed so much better now. As though his joy at seeing me _better_ and _mending_ was greater than his fear of what could have been. He was terrified then, but now he was just plain cute in his gratefulness. I saw the sun in the sky outside. It was morning.

_Charlie!!_

"Shhhh..." he shushed me again. It was embarrassing how much that always actually soothed me when coming from him. I always had to obey. "Alice sorted it out. Just rest, sweetheart." He pulled my closer back into his chest. I think I could feel him kissing my hair now? He had an excuse, and it kind of boosted my ego, so I just smiled wider. It hurt a little, though.

"Carlisle's got you on some hard drugs, so you shouldn't feel a thing." He cooed in my ear.

_Hard drugs? _I mean to ask, but it came out as an "Nph?" sounding sigh.

"He wanted to give you strong over the counter medicine," he hissed, accusingly. "I went and got the morphine for you myself from his office. I think he was a little... worried about me, so he begged me to hand it over for him to do it. As if I'd make a mistake!" He scoffed. I was secretly grateful. "Just shhh, now, angel. Get more sleep. We gave you sedatives as well, but they might be wearing off. Shh, shh.." Jeese, I was hating my body to how it responded to that. I couldn't really begin to find out what happened last night if I was a pile of goo.

_Focus!!_

I couldn't tell what time of day it was, because I had no idea what area of the house I was in, so I could not even determine morning from afternoon by the sun's position. I frowned. I'd never been in this room before. I hadn't been in every room in the Cullen home, but I was pretty sure I would be able to work out which floor I was on, at least. I tried to shift my head to look around, which was no easy task given the small, but still persistent pain in my body and my neck when I twisted it, and because Edward was so close behind me, his nose buried in my mahogany locks, still.

Wow.

The room was beautiful. It had the prettiest powder blue walls, with white painted wardrobe and front doors. The carpet looked rich and white, and there were expensive looking blue rugs on the floors. There were chests of drawers, a bedside table, a beautiful antique desk and a full length mirror which looked about the same age. All were white with silver (coloured, hopefully) hardware on them, and the mirror that looked about as old as Edward was also silver, with lots of intertwining bits of metal like a bed headboard. I had a feeling it matched the very bed I lay on. I smiled as I snuggled into the soft queen-sized mattress, covered in a matching powder blue bedspread, white sheets, and an assortment of white, silver, and various shades of blue pillows. I had an abstract memory from one of my visits here. I think I remembered this room, desperately running around to find a bathroom away from Edward's acute hearing. I did not remember it like this.

I shook my head slowly and gingerly, barely upsetting my wounds.

"What happened?" I entreated, my voice wavering. Edward did not speak for several long moments, and I wondered if he was hoping I'd forget my question in my drugged and sleepy haze. I squirmed a little, hoping he'd understand I was waiting. He spoke quietly into my hair, ineffectively removing pain from his voice for my benefit.

"I came home late. I didn't think you'd mind, as Alice had predicted I would earlier, and said that she would look after you till I arrived. I saw you there. You were broken. Bella," he took a shuddering breathe, "there was so much blood. You're face was gray. I have never been that scared in a century."

"But how-"

"Shhh... I could barely concentrate on what was happening. Seeing you, seeing everyone, seeing _her_, the blood, and hearing everyones thoughts was overwhelming even for a vampire's mind. I read Alice's thoughts. I read _her_ thoughts some time after. After you left your truck," he said this contemptuously and not without accusation, "your scent was detected by... a human blood drinking vampire." He began trembling behind me, and although I had so many questions to ask about this I just focused on his uneven chilly breath on my neck, soothing my wound. "They came here to seek us out-"

"They wish to follow Carlisle's way of life? To follow you di-"

"Bella, please!" His velvet voice was suddenly shattered glass. "She is here for... other matters. She... Finding you was a coincidence. She couldn't believe that a small girl, young and weak for a human who smelled so delectable could be roaming the woods at night alone. As if you were you were an offering from fate." I tried to turn to face him, but he held me tightly. Whether he didn't want to look me in the eye or didn't want me meeting his I did not know. "She was going to kill you. Those were going to be your last moments, Bella. Your last breaths, your last heartbeats before a predator devoured you, miles from home on the filthy earth, all alone. And I would be miles away." I could barely hear his soft tones. I finally faced him after he relented to my squirming, and gracefully shifted over to my other side. He was far more composed, but I could still see the crippling pain across his sharp features. I made to speak, but he chose to continue and leave this matter in the dust. "She was going to murder you, even though you told her of our connect with you," this brightened his tone considerably.

_Evidence of a functioning self-preservation system always seems to do it for him._

"She believed you, but thought we were just keeping you as a pet. She didn't... She didn't understand. You're..." _Edward, lost for words? _"Well, it would be scorned and viewed with derision by modern human standards, but, Bella... My scent is all over you. To vampires that means one thing. You're taken. You've been spoken for. You're mine. You are my mate and no-one else's." He was avoiding my gaze, and rushing through this, seeming flustered beyond all precedence. I felt awkward, like I couldn't meet his eyes at this revelation either, and felt a strange tingling feeling consume me. I nodded for him to continue. He seemed relieved and eager to get past this, also.

"Even if she didn't know that you are my mate, and that I – I need you," he swallowed in an oddly human gesture, "my scent all over you would still strongly suggest that... aah." He grimaced, and looked back to me, searching my face to predict my reaction. He pursed his soft-looking red lips together in apology, "Well, that would still mean that you're mine. That I'm keeping you for... other reasons." This baffled me. For what other reasons would a vampire keep a human alive? Edward seemed heart-achingly uncomfortable and guilty for revealing this, but I couldn't quite understand. I decided to let it go and focus on the story.

"But she chose to devour you anyway." He seemed torn. _Torn? How can he be torn?_ He incontrovertibly seemed devastated that I could have died, but he had mixed emotions across his face. I thought I could determine betrayal, confusion, doubt, and a myriad of other unexpected feelings in his now bright butterscotch eyes. They always seemed bigger, more boyish and youthful when they were bright. "But she decided to toy with you. She was determined to continue... Until she asked of your _name_." At this, his bright eyes absolutely flamed. I saw mirth, humour, love, and incandescent joy in his golden orbs as his face moved closer to mine, giving me a pointed look. I saw the crooked smile that I love so much, even more animated on his face as it teased. My heart sunk.

_Oh, God. I didn't say it, I didn't say it, I didn't say it!_

His grin just grew as he saw my recognition.

"I thought I was going to die!" I hissed defensively. "I wasn't thinking, I would have said anything to stay alive!" He did not stop grinning. I suddenly thought of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. He seemed to enjoy this a little too much.

"Certainly, Mrs. Edward Anthony, whatever you say," _how could that grin get any bigger?! _I hit him. Hard in the arm. He probably didn't even feel it, but it just added to my growing arsenal of maladies. He kissed my knuckles softly, never breaking his intense gaze. Never stopping with the stupid dopey smile. At least he was no longer brooding or awkward. "Well that through her for a loop," he continued, "she paused for a moment then, but then just kept going. She really was too far gone by then. You already had open wounds across your body," he ran a feather-light caress down my side and arm. "As you were running away from her, which I was surprised to discover by the way, you fell hard on the ground and slid. You skinned the whole side of your face, a lot of your arm, and you bruised a lot of your body. Carlisle thinks you might have a broken rib. You definitely have a superficial fracture to your ulna, and you sprained your wrist and an ankle. You never half do things, do you?" He didn't look to be joking. "There was not a lot of blood from your face and arm - as you skinned it you also got dirt and mud in the wounds, which was a nightmare for me to clean out for you, but might have masked the scent from her better." He tried to sound clinical and professional like Carlisle, but he could never mask that paranoid, terrified, overprotective boyfriend timbre.

"What stopped her?" Genuinely curious. It has been nagging me desperately since I woke up.

"Your ring." Soft, would-be casual. Huh.

"My ring?"

"Yes."

"Huh. Why? That seems really strange – there's something you're not telling me. Who is she? Why is she still here, why was she still in the room when I woke up last night? I'd have expected you guys to be all over her!"

"But it didn't stop her nearly soon enough," he shook his head vigorously, his beautifully messy hair flopping around on his head and the soft pillow. "She still penetrated your neck with her teeth. She hadn't started... sucking... blood out yet, but she removed what venom she had deposited. We have that to be thankful for." I looked down at my feet under the piles of soft sheets and blankets. I frowned. The sheets stopped at my hips, revealing an altogether too shear white cotton night gown. It was loose, and soft, and I could feel that it fell to my ankles. The bust had baby blue and white embroidery, and lace. The sleeve cuffs were much the same. I felt like Elizabeth Bennet. Who changed me into this? This definitely didn't belong to Alice, Rosalie, or even Esme! I frowned harder. This was wrong, but I had more pressing matters to attend to.

I went to sit up in bed. I needed to be upright in this conversation. Edward immediately shifted with inhuman poise, sitting up himself to lean over me, cradling me with his arms and body to keep me lying down. This didn't work out right. At all. Now he was looking down at me while I was still curled up under the sheets. I felt my authority and power in the conversation plummet even further. He seemed to think I was just trying to get more comfortable, so he began fussing over my pillows and fixing my sheets and blankets for me, then running the backs of his long, pianist fingers across my cheek in a repetitive motion making me altogether too relaxed. I need to be alert for this! I now understood the pains down my whole side, my arm, my face and my neck, but I didn't understand _her_, and I didn't understand her intentions. I didn't understand her purpose in dreary Forks which was occupied by a clan of seven formidable vampires, and I didn't understand how she could attack me, nearly kill me, and suddenly _stop, _and most of all I couldn't understand how they could let it slide.

"Edward, _who is she? _What is she doing here, why did she stop killing me, why did she bother sucking her venom out, and why do none of you care that she hurt me!?"

"Of course I care!" He nearly shouted, his sunshine eyes flashing dangerously. That torn expression adorned his handsome face once more. I was close.

"Then why are you letting a predator who tried to kill me walk around like she owns this plac-"

"She's my mother!" He hissed, even his face now betraying his pain. My mind was blank. I couldn't reconcile what I'd been badgering him for, and his response. I thought of Esme, who I vaguely remembered nursing me last night. Confused, I thought of what Edward once told me of his human mother. She had contracted the Spanish Influenza before he, and she had died a human, trying to nurse him back to health. Carlisle granted her dying wish of ensuring Edward's unconditional survival. Still confused, I met Edward's intense orbs for clarification.

"My birth mother. Elizabeth. She's a vampire," he said softly, his face blank but his eyes downcast. He seemed so lost and confused. I lifted my hand to touch his face. His eyes met mine.

"How?" I could think of nothing better to say.

He pursed his lips again and frowned. He gestured with his hand pointing downwards. "They've all been talking downstairs. We needed to sort you out first and foremost. You needed some stitches and a compress, which we got you down there. I don't know. With all the confusion of last night, it was so easy for everyone to just be overwhelmed by a predator," his voice cracked, "to have brought you home to us with a neck wound flowing blood, everyone but Carlisle and I was holding their breath," he shook his head with a hopeless look, "we didn't notice your other injuries until I disturbed them. Your face and side," he clarified as gave him a questioning glance. "We were so fearful of blood loss, of infection," at this comment, even with my own human ears I could hear loud groans from downstairs. Edward frowned even more. "There were so many problems just with that one wound. To see that you had broken bones, sprains, large patches of exposed, broken skin that were covered in dirt..." He shook his head slowly. "I was so scared.

"I could not even think about... her. All I saw was you. All I see is you. I love her. Loved her - I don't know. But you are my life. You are everything. You come first. Even after I had mended you to the best of my ability, I stayed here. What if you woke up in pain? What if you rolled onto an injury or had a nightmare? What if your stitches came loose or a wound was reopened?" He looked horrified. "I stayed here," he said firmly. "But I've been listening all night. _Really _listening," he added, tapping his temple. He looked as though he were thinking about something painful awfully hard.

"During the outbreak all those years ago, it was common for nomads and small groups of vampires to skip from town to town, village to village, taking and killing and drinking. We..." He was uncomfortable again, "We do not like to drink from the sick. It has a taste, a flavour. As you smell more appealing to me... dangerously appealing," he whispered with wide eyes, "humans with illnesses - psychological, physical, but mostly bacterial and viral taste abhorrent. You can taste the disease or infection, you see," a wan smile, "but when humans have things that don't effect the blood – losing a limb, for example, or physical deterioration, there is no discernible difference. We can sometimes taste differences to those afflicted with prion disorders..." He was even more thoughtful, now.

"So, you can understand that some vampires chose not to prey upon the ill. It is worse than drinking from the lowest of animals from what I understand from other's thoughts. But in all the confusion of the outbreak, it would be easy to prey upon the healthy, as who's to notice one more death? My... my mother, downstairs has been telling her story. We fell ill with the influenza towards the end of the line in our town, and the vampires apparently chose to feast upon the dying, as well. Dying tastes different from ill, from what I understand..." He squeezed his eyes shut painfully tight, and balled his hands into fists, clearly resentful of himself for revealing so much graphic and gruesome detail. He gave my a wry, apologetic smile.

"So my mother was removed from my side as she was as good as dead. It was thought she'd be dead before reaching the morgue. Similar to Esme, I believe, only far more sinister. They needed to clear those who were a minute from death from beds that could be occupied by those who could be helped. Two vampires were waiting, acting as what I suppose you'd call Medical Examiners. There were far too many bodies for a single morgue to suffice, so with so many patients dead, in many different rooms, it would be easy to lose track.

"My mother was bitten by those vampires. They were feeding from her in the early hours of the morning. They didn't realise the effect the sun was having on their reflective flesh, and were surprised to be disturbed so soon after the last delivery by another man with another dead body. He saw them; he saw their monsterous skin, he saw their sick act, and before they had finished with my mother they moved onto him. A healthy human, who needed to be destroyed to keep the secret. My mother lay forgotten, left alone in a morgue to change." A forlorn, pained expression adorned his inhumanely handsome feautures.

"Uuhh... S-so that happened the day before I started changing. That – that makes her older than me!" A sick, false smile tugged at his lips. He had no idea how to react to this news. My poor Edward, who had thought for nearly a hundred years that his biological family was dead, and who had wandered this earth alone, just found out his mother had been alive the whole time. And his first impression of her was her attempted murder of me.

"I think she's older anyway, Edward. Being your mother." I offered, gently. His eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh, right, right."

Silence.

"Have you spoken to her?"

"No."

"Have you been down there at all?"

"No." I bit my lip.

"Edward... What's going to happen?" I softly questioned.

"I don't know."

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